MOE Seeks Clarification on Claims on AWARE's Programmes

ChannelNewsAsia ran this story on 28 April 2009:

MOE seeks clarification on claims on AWARE's programmes
By Zhang Tingjun

SINGAPORE: The Education Ministry (MOE) has contacted Dr Thio Su Mien, who is the "feminist mentor" to the new exco in the Association of Women for Action & Research (AWARE), to clarify the claims she was reported to have made on the organisation's sexuality programmes.

In a statement, MOE said it had not received any complaints from parents or from Dr Thio about the programmes.

The AWARE saga has stretched out over the past weeks and Dr Thio's views have been reported widely. She has been quoted as saying that on AWARE's sexuality programme, homosexuality is now regarded as a neutral word, not a negative word.

Giving details, MOE said 11 secondary schools engaged AWARE to run workshops on sexuality last year. The organisation also conducted assembly talks on topics such as self esteem at a few schools.

Schools that engaged AWARE found its programme content appropriate for their students, adhering to MOE guidelines.

Speaking to reporters at a visit to Yishun Town Secondary School, Senior Minister of State for Education S Iswaran said sexuality education is taught primarily by teachers, but schools have the flexibility to bring in other organisations.

"The guiding principle for this is very simple. It uses the family as the basic building block, as the basic foundation and helps the students make values-based decision on the whole issue of sexuality and in a manner that's sensitive to the multi-racial, multi-religious environment.

"Clearly, there are different perspectives in our society so MOE takes a very deliberate and cautious approach," he said.

The Education Ministry added that if parents know of an instance where these guidelines have not been adhered to, they should go directly to the ministry.